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I want to start 2013 by thanking everyone who came out this year. From the bottom of my heart, I greatly appreciate all the attendees, guests, vendors, presenters, volunteers and staff. I feel like our content was top notch and I’m blessed to have such world-class friends.

Big thanks to Jonathan “Roadblock” Serna for hosting, to Vicki Behme for her stunning design work, and for Mikey Jasiczek for putting on another great Bottomless Wit Gauntlet. I also want to take time to thank Barbara Dunkelman, Jack Pattillo, Julia Rogers, Kelli Dunlap, Jesse Cowell, and Ashley St Lawrence, our guests, presenters, and vendors. Thanks also to the DoubleTree Hotel, Perch Pub, Fado, the Bridge Theater, Reading Terminal Market, and Giorgio’s on Pine for hosting different parts of our event.

A few of our staff members are moving on this year. A big thank you first goes to Virginia Evans, our Event Coordinator. Even though we weren’t able to see you on Saturday, I know first hand how much time and effort you put into making the last 2 (3, really) RT Philly events a success. I look forward to seeing Apricot Basket continue to blossom and I treasure your friendship.

Speaking of treasures, a young man named Nicolas Cusworth has won the hearts of RT Philadelphians everywhere with his Corgi Cup Style and Media Manager Panache. With very little time (and I doubt very much sleep), he was able to seamlessly integrate our media presentations into the larger fabric of the event, all while putting videos together year round to help promote RT Philly. I’m really proud of you, Nick, and I look forward to big and bright things from both Nicolas Cusworth Media and Autism Speaks.

Then we have Mattie Evans. Mattie, the smartest thing I did was hand over the Treasurer responsibilities to you, as I’m sure I’d be down several kidneys by now trying to fund this thing otherwise. Your even temper and soothing beard were the calm that got us through many a storm. Thank you, kind sir, and I want all of you to pledge some of your good luck to Matt as he enters this critical year of his Ph.D candidacy.

These three fine individuals, joined by the Johnstanding John Sedlack, Jeffnificent Jeff Rupert, and Clifftactular Cliff Simon, and, um, me, met a few weeks ago to discuss how to best proceed, given the critical staff departures and ever-changing Rooster Teeth event landscape. From the ashes of RvBTO will rise RTO, a Phoenix that I’m highly confident will save the monsters from the Evil Moo (Monsters Rule). RvB CanWest endures, as ever, and newer events like RvBOR and RT MN seem to be popping up every day. In the midst of it all is the ever-growing and ever-awesome behemoth (behemoth!) that is RTX. Coupled with PAXes and ComiCons, to say nothing of the rare times we actually want to spend time with family or friends from outside the Rooster Teeth Community, there is a variety of choice in the marketplace right now and a lot of worthy competition for your time and resources.

At the same time, with all of these other events, it’s always been a challenge to get all of the content, all the vendors, all of the logistics together in what’s not a lot of time. It’s a labor of love to be sure, but is it the right thing for us to put so much effort into an event that, by issues of geography and competition, will only be seen by a handful of people, albeit the sexiest handful a guy could ask for?

The core mission of RT Philly has been to showcase community content. For a couple of years now, our mandate has grown outside of the event itself to creative fundraising events like RT26 and Rock Patch. We’ve each individually contributed to and started a number of crowdfunded projects. We hear about worthy stuff all the time, but not everyone can get out to Philly during the year. The inevitable question came: Is RT Philly doing the most to live out its mission statement in its current form?

The bottom line is that we don’t know. Not for sure. We want you guys to be part of this dialogue, because we’ve been doing this for years. What is the best way for us to continue to pursue our mission?

We do know that we miss your faces and we want to see you. There will be a gathering in Philly in 2013. It will most likely be a bit more low key that what we’ve done in past years, centered more on hanging out and enjoying each other’s company. It’s entirely possible that musicians and podcast hosts may figure heavily into this. Who’s to say, for instance, Late Nite JengaJam, or whatever it’s called by then, won’t have a live show that happens to be the same weekend? We don’t have dates for this “RT Philly Hangout” just yet, but we’ll let you know just as soon as we do so you can make plans to join us.

We’re not done with RT26, either, but we’re not quite ready to discuss the new direction that will take. Let’s just say we’re looking to answer some of our own questions in podcast marathon format.

I am extremely proud to have co-founded and to have served on the staff of RT Philly. While it’s bittersweet to say farewell to the event in its current format, I am ecstatic about the future that is growing out of an already-solid foundation. Mark my words, the next few months are going to be very exciting. We will continue our mission of getting your worthy content a wider platform and we will continue to cherish the bonds and friendships built over the few years.

We’re a little more than two weeks away from this year’s RT Philly, where we Aspire to Endeavor, so I figured it be a good time to formally announce all of our guests and presenters.

HOSTS

Our wonderful host, Roadblock

This year none other than Jon “Roadblock” Serna will host RT Philly. Roadblock was a huge help during RT26, and part of the Latenight JengaJam Team. We’re happy that he is leaving the Land of Tornadoes for a weekend and joining us in the City of Brotherly Love. It’s his job to keep you entertained between presenters, so if you’re not entertained, blame him, not us.

Jengaship, Roadblock’s ever-faithful sidekick

Now we realize that the hosting gig is a big undertaking, and that it helps to have a local on the team, so this year Jack “Jengaship” Edathil will be assisting Roadblock. Don’t let that fool you; Roadblock is the star, no matter what Jack says. Jack is Philly born and bred and your go to guy for any Philly related questions. Except for “Where should I get a cheesesteak from?” Jack will answer “Steve’s.” But we all know he is wrong and that the true answer is Tony Luke’s.

SPECIAL GUESTS

Barbara’s plan is to break your legs, then run away as the Zombies go all Om Nom on your brains.

We’re pleased to announce that we have three special guests this year. First up we have Ms. Barbara Dunkensnacks Dunkelman. Barb used to be like us, fan, attendee, community event organizer, but now she has ascended to RT Community Manager. You may think, “Wow, that’s awesome, she’s amazing!” While that is true, deep down she just like us so don’t let her title go to your head.

Don’t be fooled, that’s not beer in his glass. That’s the blood of a dead achievement.

Next up we have Jack Pattillo from Achievement Hunter. Jack equals one half of the adults who are a part of Achievement Hunter team. When he’s not babysitting the rest of the crew he likes to go on safari where he tracks down and kills big game achievements. He is the reason why achievements are on the endangered species list. Pretty soon it will be a crime to hunt them. Also, BEARD.

Jesse, and his number one fan, inflatable monkey.

Lastly, and certainly not least, we have Jesse “Jeskid” Cowell. Jesse is a filmmaker known for Shades of Grey, Drawn By Pain, and most recently Status Kill. On top of all that he works for MyDamn Channel, producing some of the funniest videos on the interbuttsintertubesinterweb internet. Unbeknownst to some, Jesse is an accomplished martial artist, and he likes to kick people in the head. So you’ve been warned.

Hey Philly enthusiasts! We’re less than 3 weeks away from the final big RT community gathering of the season. Hope you all are as pumped to see everyone as we are!

I wanted to quickly talk a little about something we’re very happy to bring back to RT Philly this year: The Corgi Cup! We began it in honor of friend of the community/event Jamie Dillion, who many of you likely know as the project manager of Child’s Play (and if you know her, you also know about her passion for all things Corgi-related). Child’s Play is a wonderful charity, and we would be remiss if we didn’t celebrate the fantastic work of one of our own and help contribute to it. Thus the Corgi Cup was born. We launched it at last year’s event as a live auction filled to the brim with wonderful items graciously donated by our guests and vendors both present and past. All in all, thanks to the continuously amazing generosity of the RT community, we managed to raise over $500 for Child’s Play, and the first annual Corgi Cup was awarded to Kathleen Zuelch, who brought in the most money individually with her items.

So here’s what you need to know about this year’s Corgi Cup. The rules haven’t changed much from last year. We will have items up for silent auction displayed throughout the day, and attendees will be able to place competing bids through the entire event. Anybody can donate an item to be bid upon, and the individual who brings in the most money from all of their items combined will be awarded the Corgi Cup. Every cent of what is donated during the event goes directly to Child’s Play and making a difference in the lives of kids in need.

An auction is only as good as the items that are being auctioned off and the people who place bids on them though, so we’re asking all of our guests, vendors, and attendees of this year’s event and past events to participate and either donate auction items or consider placing a bid on at least one item. [b]You do not need to be at RT Philly this year to donate an item.[/b] Kathleen could not attend last year and ended up winning the whole thing. Any item (within reason) is okay to donate.

If you have any questions regarding the Corgi Cup or are interested in donating an item, e-mail me at nick@rtphilly.com, and I will gladly answer them. If you need to mail an item because you will not be attending the event, we can compensate shipping costs.

RT Philly is happening really soon! For everyone who is going through RvBTO withdrawal, this is the perfect time for you to see a bunch of your friends who were at RvBTO this past weekend. For those of you who didn’t get to go to RvBTO, this is the perfect time for you to hang out with your friends you didn’t get to see this past weekend. And if you don’t fit in those last two categories, you should come on out and meet all of us!

I’ve got a few things to mention, as well as some awesome announcements, so keep reading!

First, we’re still looking for people to apply to become a presenter or vendor! We’re here to showcase the stuff you’re doing, so fill out the form and let us know that you want to show off and/or sell some of your wares!

Second, if you’re just wanting to come hang out with us on Saturday, buy your tickets to the event!

And now, special announcements!

RoadBlock at RT Philly 2011

This year’s event will be hosted by our very dear friend, RoadBlock! RoadBlock helped us immensely with RT26 this year, and we couldn’t think of someone better to have keeping all of you entertained in between our presentations on Saturday.

Mattie omnomnoming

To make this even better, our very own Mattie will be joining him as a co-host! Mattie co-hosted with our good friend, Mikey, last year, and we’re excited to have him come back to banter back and forth with RoadBlock this year.

Even more exciting? Internet Legend and RT Staff Member Barbara will be gracing us with her presence this year! She recently became the RT Community Manager and was instrumental in running RTX this year. She joined us as a community member last year, and we’re excited to have her back!

Barbara. Does she even need a caption? I think not. Wait.

One last, quick message:

RT Philly is a completely fan-funded and fan-supported event. While the staff puts in the time to organize a fun event for all of you to enjoy and a great place to see (and meet!) friends, we can’t possibly do any of this without your support and generosity. We need to be perfectly honest with you, the community. RT Philly is currently trying to operate on less than 50% of our budget for this upcoming event, and ticket sales are less than previous years. RT26 was instrumental in getting us to where we are now, but without funds, we will have to start removing some fun parts of this event.

We had planned on needing about $3,500 (US), and we’re hovering around $1,700 (US). We use these funds to pay for our Saturday venue, getting t-shirts made, and getting special guests (such as Barbara!) to come out and be a part of the event. We made a commitment to all of you as to what RT Philly will be this year, but the staff can’t do it alone.

I don’t know why I ask, because I already know the answer. You’re going to listen in on RT Philly [In Review]!!

This coming Tuesday, June 5 from 8pm-10pm, RT Philly will be hosting a streaming event called RT Philly [In Review] highlighting previous years and promoting this year’s RT Philly. The event will include but is not limited to interviews with past guests and attendees, clips from 2011, video from and a recap of RT 26 2012, a fundraising status update, and Jeff Rupert Live. This event is also serving as a kick-off for content submission: vendors, presenters, and guests.